I had two great questions from Hot Aisle readers following the latest article on Cold Aisle containment. Dan asked about the impact on fire suppression and Mark asked about where we got the transparent curtains.

Lets start with the impact on fire systems of having either hot or cold aisle containment. The safety of personel working within the data center is absolutely critical and there are a number of key issues to be concerned with:

1) Are (audible or visual) fire alarm signals blocked out by the containment system? Can you hear and / or see that an alarm is going off? This needs a live test with db monitoring equipment to ensure that all building and safety regulations are being met.

2) Will the gas discharge properly distribute throughout the room with the containment system in place? Tests at Rochdale showed that the air circulated around the room very quickly (3 times a minute) and that all gas was evently distributed within 30 seconds. For all practical purposes the containment system made no measurable difference to the effectiveness of the fire suppressant system. As long as the containment system does not interfere with the gas discharge nozels it does not really matter if they are located in the containment system, outside the containment system or indeed under the floor void or in the roof space. Where there is an element of free air (fresh air) cooling gas discharge fire suppression is not particularly effective.

3) Could the pressure wave from the gas discharge dislodge the containment system and cause injury to occupants? This is a risk with any gas suppression system, where ceiling tiles, floor tiles, cabinet doors and other objects can be dislodged by the gas pressure wave. In all cases it is important the the system is not armed when personel are inside the protected area and that emergency cut off switches are provided in convenient locations.

The curtains and other containment elements were provided by a UK company JCA Group.